


Lost In Time

by Constellasaur



Series: Timeless [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: 10:60 Breach, 9:30 Dragon, 9:31 Dragon, Amell But Not Amell, Beta Read, Cats Are Fun To Write, Ever wonder what the hell happens to that stupid time amulet? Haha 127 years later, F/F, Grey Wardens, LGBTQ Female Character, Mages, Shapeshifter, Solora Makes A Return, Tags will be updated as needed, Templars, The Breach Age, The Dragon Age, The False Blight, The Fifth Blight, The Sixth Blight, Time Travel, lgbtq+
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27038521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Constellasaur/pseuds/Constellasaur
Summary: Neither elf had been paying attention to the Amulet dangling from the mage's hands as it began to pulse a harsher red in response to being in direct contact with the shapeshifter's magic. The mage in question had opened her mouth to respond, but she never got the chance. The enchanted amulet reacted, the charm floating up a bit before a bright red portal opened, pulling both women through it with a flash.The only thing left behind was a burn mark on the floor where both elves once stood.ORAn apostate and an assassin from 10:60 Breach find themselves thrown back in time to 9:30 Dragon to face a second Blight.
Relationships: Female Amell/Leliana (Dragon Age), Leliana/Female Warden (Dragon Age), Morrigan (Dragon Age)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Timeless [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934419
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we start, just wanted to give a big thank you to @jeybird.art on Instagram for beta reading this chapter!
> 
> ━━━━━━✦✗✦━━━━━━
> 
> Chapter Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJtZ11SFfpY

_  
temporary story cover until I can get one commissioned_ **  
  
━━━━━━✦✗✦━━━━━━  
  
10:60 Breach**

 ******_  
_** _Find the Mage who enchanted the safe, kill the mage, find the chest, get out. Easy enough._ _  
__  
_Or at least it should have been.  
  
A brunette elf that was currently outfitted in some servant clothing moved swiftly through the main hall of the Winter Palace. Careful to avoid eye contact with any of the masked Orlesians as she attempted to find her way towards the servant’s entrance.  
  
She underestimated exactly what her client wanted her to do here. She figured it would be simple enough - thinking the palace wouldn’t be much bigger than the Denerim palace.  
  


 _But oh, how wrong I was._ _  
__  
_The castle was both as massive as it was difficult to navigate. If it weren’t for the abundance of servants present for the coronation, she doubted she would've ever been able to get a grasp of even the general direction of the servants’ entrance.

It took roughly a half-hour of trying to remain inconspicuous before she figured out where the servant’s entrance even was. She quickened her pace immediately in an attempt to get there before anyone decided they needed her assistance.  
  
But of course, it would never be that easy. _  
__  
_A man grabbed the elven woman by the arm - startling Nela, but successfully stopping her in her tracks. Nela cast her brown eyes upon the masked Orlesian man, forcing herself not to do anything rash in retaliation at being touched and risk blowing her cover.  
  
“Get me my drink knife-ear, I’ve been waiting for almost five minutes now.” The man demanded in irritation, his Orlesian accent prevalent as he spoke.  
  
“Right away, ser.” Nela forced herself to respond, casting her eyes downwards as the man released her, muttering angrily in Orlesian under his breath as the woman quickly moved towards the servant’s entrance as she had previously intended.  
  
The elf let out a short exhale of relief as the doors shut behind her, moving her hand with the intent to run it through her hair before promptly remembering that she had tied her hair up before entering the palace. She dropped her hand shortly afterward, taking a moment to take in the area, paying careful attention to the elves around her.  
  
They didn’t pay her much mind, however, despite her not being a familiar face. Nela didn’t doubt that it wasn’t uncommon for new servants to be coming in and out of the palace somewhat frequently. Especially with the coronation of Princess Angelique currently happening. No one gave her a second glance as they funnelled in and out of the main room.  
  
 _Easier for me I guess._ _  
__  
_This felt so beneath her, scuttling around the palace dressed as an Orlesian servant. She was an assassin, a thief, not some prissy nobles _lapdog._ If it had been up to her, she wouldn’t have even been here. But her client had asked her to perform a job for him in Orlais - a promise of a large amount of sovereigns following the offer, she really couldn’t convince herself to refuse. Only the maker knew why the man was so set on sending a Fereldan elf on the assignment and not an Orlesian Bard was entirely lost on her. But the money was good, she couldn’t really complain.

It took a while, figuring out exactly how to get to the upper floors. The hallways that littered the palace didn’t get any easier to navigate as she got deeper in. How she managed was a miracle. But how she intended to get out of the palace… Well, she’d tackle it when she got there.  
  
The first goal of course was to find the mage. From what her client had told her, the man was an Orlesian elf from the circle with little to no interest in being present at any of the events the Winter Palace would host. So, finding him should be simple enough - find his office, take out his guard quietly, then take him out. After that, the hunt to get back downstairs and to the basement would begin.

She had been given rough directions on where the office was. On the second floor to the north-west end of the castle. But the directions themselves were difficult to work with considering her issues navigating the castle, to begin with.  
  
 _Maker, I’m never taking a job in Orlais again._

During her wandering of the Castle, she came across very few to no guards. Any she did come across were either easy enough to sneak around or take out if necessary. Easily hiding bodies in various rooms if the latter became her only option.  
  
Also during the trek, she obtained a companion of sorts (if you could even call the creature that). A fluffy, orange tabby cat had watched her as she killed one of the guards - the creature's eyes seemed to shine with curiosity as it hopped off the window-sill it was sitting on to follow after her. Nela would admit she found it weird that there was even a cat within the upper halls of the Winter Palace. Even more, that the animal appeared keen on following her as she snuck around the palace.  
  
She wouldn’t complain however, the animal easily stayed out of the way and undetected. If the cat wouldn’t be a problem, she had no reason to be annoyed with it coming along. If anything, she liked the company - it made the job a little less lonely.  
  
Nela did eventually find the office she was looking for, easily taking out the guard at the door before going inside. The mage was a little more difficult to kill - having lost the element of surprise. But she managed, only walking away with a burn on the top of her right arm. The fight wasn’t loud or long enough to alert any of the guards that might have been within earshot (something she honestly doubted as she killed the majority of Guards around the office).

With the death of the mage, she stuffed both the bodies of him and his guard in a cabinet at the corner of the room, hoping to bide for time so she could get into the basement and out the Palace undetected - and then she was off again.  
  
Backtracking back down onto the main floor proved a bit easier and faster than getting up onto the second floor. She had a vague idea of how she got up there, that mixed in with lack of guards to get around just made the whole trek a lot quicker than the first time.  
  
Once reaching the main floor again, Nela found herself letting out a bit of a frustrated huff - moving to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and casting her eyes towards the cat who still easily followed after her. “You don’t happen to know where the basement is, do you?”  
  
The cat simply stared up at her silently after reaching the bottom of the steps. Tilting its head up at her curiously.  
  
“Of course you don’t, you're a cat.” There were a few seconds of silence that followed the statement. Both elf and animal made silent eye contact before the assassin added a quick. ”And I’m talking to you like you can understand me, great.”  
  
Finally peeling her eyes away from the animal, Nela continued on her hunt for the basement. It was becoming clearer that most of the guards were focused around the coronation of Princess Angelique rather than the rest of the palace - whilst there were guards present, there weren’t nearly as much throughout the palace as there were stationed around where the guests were currently.  
  
It took maybe twenty or thirty minutes to finally find the basement. The guards were more of an issue on the main floor than the upper floors, but the stairs that led directly into the basement proved to be much easier to locate.  
  
Once getting into the basement, the strong lack of guards was very apparent. The underground floors seemed to mostly be used for storage and the wine cellar. Compared to the rest of the castle, the area seemed to be a hell of a lot smaller. Heading into the basement consisted of a long hall with quite a few doors. The one directly at the end of the hall being the wine cellar (which was indicated by the two elves who quickly hurried past her with some crates holding bottles of wine).  
  
Carefully looking around to make sure no one else was coming down into the basement, Nela began moving down the hall, counting each door as she looked for the correct one for what she was looking for.  
  
 _5th door on the left… 5th door on the left… Here we are._ _  
  
_

The elf stopped in front of the door she was supposed to be heading into, pulling her lockpicking tools out of her closet and setting to work on the door. Her new-found cat companion was seated on the floor next to her as she worked on the lock in front of her.

  
It took about a minute of tinkering with the lock, but eventually, she was able to get it open. The door gave a soft click before Nela attempted opening it.

  
Once the door was opened, the elven assassin moved back to her feet, beginning to scour the room for the chest that had been mentioned to her. Reaching the back of the room she caught sight of the shape of a chest covered with a cloth. Pulling the cloth off of it, she looked down at the no-longer enchanted chest and much like the door, went to pick the lock on the chest - which opened easily after a few moments of messing with it.  
  


Pulling the lock off, she opened the chest, taking a glance inside. Inside the chest sat a single amulet made of rope with a peculiar green stone tied at the bottom of it. Picking it up, Nela examined the jewelry carefully, trying to deduct exactly what her client could possibly want with it. The stone at the bottom of it was in a square shape, the stone itself sporting a large crack from one side that went all the way around the top to the other side.  
  


“A damaged amulet? What could possibly be important about this…?” Nela found herself questioning out loud, her eyes still scanning across the item curiously. Occasionally, a soft red glow would overtake the stone - the only thing indicating that the item was in fact, enchanted.

  
The brunette was about to stand back to her feet and get out of the palace when the cat from before had stepped in front of her, both its front paws resting on her legs as the animal took the rope from the amulet into its mouth.  
  
“No, that's not yours,” Nela spoke, her tone stern as she moved to pull the amulet from the animal's mouth. She didn’t get far, however, as the animal in front of her was engulfed in a white light. Its place stood a red-headed _dalish elf_ of all things.

  
“I can’t let you take _that_!” The dalish elf who appeared to be a mage spoke up, the amulet having been pulled from Nela’s hands amidst the transformation. It was clear the mage was nervous. Though she had attempted to keep her tone confident, it had wavered with her last word.

  
Nela stood to her feet so she was now standing face to face with the women, not allowing the surprise from the transformation to keep her off guard for long. She let out an irritated scoff, standing her ground as she narrowed her eyes at the elven mage.  
  
“I don’t think that's for you to decide.” Nela held a lot more confidence than the other elf did, having been in somewhat similar situations in the past. She didn’t bother questioning the elf on why she was there, that didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was now standing in the way of her completing her job.

Neither elf had been paying attention to the Amulet dangling from the mage's hands as it began to pulse a harsher red in response to being in direct contact with the shapeshifter's magic. The mage in question had opened her mouth to respond, but she never got the chance. The enchanted amulet reacted, the charm floating up a bit before a bright red portal opened, pulling both women through it with a flash.  
  


The only thing left behind was a burn mark on the floor where both elves once stood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I skimmed through the winter palace section a big part due to the fact I don’t know how to navigate it at all myself lol.
> 
> Not entirely sure how good this is. Honestly, this isn’t my writing style at all (If you’ve seen any of my previous stories, I don’t tend to skim things as much as I did here). - but I was enjoying writing this so I gave it a shot. As of posting this chapter, I have about half of the second chapter written (about 8 and a half pages in at the moment).
> 
> I can’t promise when the next chapter will be out as I am taking my time and it is a lot longer than this one. So I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> ━━━━━━✦✗✦━━━━━━
> 
> Want more information on the Breach Age and the characters involved? Check out the Codex!: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16rgEq-4MTMUJcoWSJ0tFdnHe1RJXxxOYAyxLHyjr5Fk/edit?usp=sharing
> 
> ━━━━━━✦✗✦━━━━━━
> 
> Word Count: 2076


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're not in Orlais anymore...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2xmqgy8_GA

_**9:30 Dragon** _

_One moment, I have the bright idea of confronting the assassin that just killed multiple guards_ _**and** _ _a mage. Next, I'm being sucked through a portal. Creators, my head hurts._

Solora stood on the docks to a location she wasn't sure of, rubbing her head slightly as the buzzing in her ears took its time subsiding. On the floor in front of her sat the amulet she had taken from the assassin. The enchanted piece of jewelry having been promptly dropped upon stumbling out of the portal.

It had barely been two minutes since both elves were just thrown into _who knows where_. Leaving both women extremely disorientated. The elven mage spared a glance at the elf next to her, who had seemed to find herself in a similar position to herself. Rubbing her head with a short groan at what Solora could only assume was a minor headache.

Taking a deep breath, Solora finally allowed herself to look around the area. Taking in her surroundings and trying to figure out where she was exactly. The area looked like Redcliffe, but something about it seemed off. And she _wasn't_ referring to the lack of people outside. Moreso, what the area looked like. The last time she had been here, the area looked a lot more.. Developed?

She was pulled out of her train of thought as the women beside her finally moved. Solora turned her attention to face the assassin but found herself immediately regretting it - having come face to face with the elven women looking absolutely livid.

"What in Andraste's name _did you_ _do!?_ " The women snapped, taking a step towards Solora and forcing the dalish elf to push her back against one of the wooden polls behind her.

"It wasn't me, I didn't do anything!" Solora spoke hastily, putting both her hands up in front of her in hopes of stopping the assassins' advance on her.

The assassin in question let out a scoff, bending over and picking up the amulet that Solora had dropped at her feet. "Right. You expect me to believe you just followed me around and _accidentally_ opened a portal right after confronting me?" Solora opened her mouth to respond, but she wasn't given much of a chance as she soon found the blade of the woman's knife pressed up against her neck. "Give me a good reason as to why I shouldn't just slit your throat now and be done with this."

"Uh, we are in a town for starters..." Solora started, not missing the raised eyebrow she received from the unnamed elf in response. "We also don't know where we are! Better to stick together until we figure that out, right?"

The assassin didn't remove the knife from Solora's neck, though she took a moment to glance around the area. "There appears to be no one in view to witness your death if I did anything." The elf started before turning her attention back to Solora again. "And I'd say we were in Redcliffe. So neither of your reasonings seem too compelling."

Solora eyed the women nervously as the blade was pushed slightly against her neck, drawing a bit of blood from the small cut that formed. Speaking quickly, the dalish elf rushed to add to her argument. "But doesn't something seem off? You know where we are and you sound Ferelden, so I'm sure you've been here before." Fear sparked in Solora's eyes as the knife was pushed a little further onto her neck, the cut becoming a bit larger. This caused her to let out a startled squeak in response to the pain that followed. "It looks like Redcliffe, but different. Where are all the templars? The Grey Wardens? The griffon statue in the middle of town? Just look!"

Solora couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as the other elf moved the blade far enough away from her neck that it was no longer breaking skin. The assassin took a glance around the village again, realizing that Solora was in fact _correct_ with the observation.

"Fine, I'll bite." The assassin spoke again, moving the knife away from Solora entirely and wiping the blade against the burned and blood-speckled servant's outfit. "What do you suppose is going on here?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Solora started running her thumb along the cut now on her neck, not missing the look of irritation shot at her in response. "But I think it might have something to do with the amulet." She added quickly, hoping to stop the woman from getting upset with her again. "I can feel the magic coming off of it, it's extremely powerful. But, something about it feels off."

The assassin looked down at the amulet she was still holding in her other hand, lifting it up slightly to look at it. Said assassin, however, did not miss the dalish elf reaching for it - thus, she promptly moved it out of the mage's reach. "If that's the case, it reacted to your magic." She snapped, her eyes daring Solora to make an attempt to reach for it again - to which Solora thought better of it, letting her hand drop to her sides as the assassin continued. "And don't you think for a second that I forgot that you trying to take it from me was what led us here to begin with."

Solora nervously averted her eyes away from the woman, knowing that she was right. It _was her fault_ that they were sent to this... weird version of Redcliffe. The guilt that followed the revelation gnawed at the back of her mind like a starving wolf.

At the lack of a response, the women gave a short hum in satisfaction - putting the amulet around her neck and hiding it under her clothing before looking in the direction of the village again. "Great. Now that we are on the same page, we can figure out what's going on here."

Giving the assassin a short nod, Solora walked after the women as she had begun moving away from the Dalish elf. "I'm, uh, Solora by the way."

The assassin gave Solora a side glance, looking unimpressed. "You really shouldn't be offering your name to someone who just tried to kill you." The women pointed out.

"But, we're going to be spending quite a bit of time together, aren't we?" Solora tried to reason, a bit of a defeated look present on her face. "We should at least be on a first-name basis."

The assassin shifted her eyes away from Solora as the two began exploring the village. The area was bare in regards to people and damaged barricades littered the area. She let the silence hang between the two of them for a few moments before finally responding to the elf, still sounding quite irritated. "Fine, my name is Nela." She started, taking a moment of hesitation before continuing. "Do not take me giving you my name as an invitation to start asking me questions."

"I- I won't." Solora stuttered out, shifting her eyes nervously away from the woman - Nela - following the statement.

It was clear that it was early morning, which might explain the lack of people currently present. It did not, however, explain the amount of damage that was littering the village. Aside from the damaged barricades, blood stained the walls and ground around the village. It was clear that something had happened here. But _what_ exactly was a mystery, something Solora found herself not entirely wanting to know the answer to.

"This looks like it was a nasty fight," Nela spoke up as she crouched to the ground to eye one of the bloodstains. "Something about this seems unnatural, Some of this blood isn't even red."

At the comment, Solora cast her eyes to where Nela was looking - realizing that she was in fact right. The mage found herself suddenly not wanting to be in the village at all.

"Maybe we should leave." Solora piped up as Nela stood back up to her feet. "It doesn't seem safe."

"Don't be stupid." The assassin snapped at Solora, shutting down the idea immediately. "We still have to figure out what's going on - maybe see if there's anyone still here that can tell us."

"Maybe the Chantry?" Solora questioned, nodding her head in the general direction of the building. "If there's anyone left here, They might be hiding out there."

Nela offered a short nod in response before making her way towards the building in question.

The walk over to the Chantry wasn't long by any means - the village wasn't massive, to begin with, and the Chantry was easily one of the largest buildings present. The two elves found themselves correct in regards to anyone being at the Chantry. One guard clad in what appeared to be Redcliffe armour stood at the doors - though the guard hadn't seen the duo yet. Having noticed this, Nela moved to a stop - quickly pushing Solora behind a building so the two of them would remain out of view.

"You can't come with me." Nela spoke immediately, not missing the look of shock that came from the dalish elf in front of her.

"Why not?" Solora huffed, not too fond of the idea of staying behind.

"I can get away with being some elven servant that may have been present during whatever happened here." The assassin explained, gesturing to the clearly stained and damaged servant's clothing she was wearing. "If I'm by myself. I cannot get away with that if I have a dalish mage following after me like a lost puppy."

Solara looked almost offended at the comment, not wanting to think of herself as some helpless girl following after Nela. But it was at that, she got an idea.

"I think you forget how we met." She commented, not waiting for a response from Nela as she was engulfed in a white light. As quickly as the light appeared, it vanished - leaving an orange tabby cat in its place. Big green eyes staring up at Nela expectantly.

"Right, almost forgot you could do that." The elf muttered in irritation mostly to herself, rolling her eyes as she turned her attention back to the direction of the chantry. "Just stay out of my way."

Solara simply flicked her tail in response, trotting right past Nela and out into the open towards the chantry. She didn't miss the huff in annoyance that came from the women behind her as she followed after the shapeshifter.

As Nela approached the chantry, she noticed the visible look of surprise on the guard's face at the approaching elf was apparent. The man taking a few step forwards to eye the slightly battered looking Elf.

"I haven't seen you here before, especially with the attacks going on." The man spoke, the shock that had been on his face beforehand beginning to shift into a look of skepticism. "Are you from the castle?"

"I- yes." Nela spoke up, attempting to sound sure of her answer - though Solora wasn't sure how well it would go over considering Nela had little to no idea what was going on here, her newfound companion had no way of backing up the claims if he asked any specific questions.

The guard's facial expression shifted again, shock taking over his face once more as he began to question her again. "You did? Has the castle sent word?"

Nela opened her mouth with intent to respond - but found herself effectively cut off as the man continued, not allowing her to answer his questions. "You need to speak to Bann Teagan immediately, he will want to know what's going on."

It was with that statement that the man gestured for the elf to enter the Chantry, to which Nela did so quickly. Following after the man as he led her towards the Bann. During this, the elf sent a bit of a nervous look towards Solara - who had fallen into step beside her. Luckily no one cared much for the random feline following the servant around much to the relief of both Nela and Solara.  
  


It didn't take long for the guard to find Teagan - the man had been standing at the back of the chantry, in the middle of a hushed but heated discussion with what looked to be the revered mother... Solora could hear bits and pieces of it, enough to gather that it was undead that was attacking the village every night - but that was as much as she found herself able to piece together.

Both of them immediately fell to silence when the Guard approached them - the man giving the bann a respectful bow and nodding to the revered mother before she walked away. Once she was gone, the man gestured to Nela who stood a few steps behind him.

"She's a servant who came from the castle ser." The guard explained, focusing his attention on Bann Teagan.

Surprise graced the banns face, the man eyeing the elven servants' dishevelled appearance for a moment before finally making eye contact with her. "Did you just get here?"

"Uh, yes ser." Nela spoke quickly, giving Bann Teagan a respectful bow as she attempted to come up with a way to further the lie without drawing any suspicion to herself.

Giving a quick dismissing nod to the guard - the man gestured for Nela to follow him into the Revered mother's office as it was currently vacant, shutting the door behind him as they both entered. Solara only just managed to slip in behind them, as the Bann paid her no attention.

"We have not heard any word from the castle since the undead started attacking a week ago." The bann explained, a worried look plastered on his face. "How is everyone in the castle faring? Is the Arl still alive? What of the arlessa and my nephew?"

From what Solora had gathered up to this point - she figured that the castle had been possibly overrun with these supposive undead that had been attacking Redcliffe. Looking up at Nela, she could tell the other elf had picked up on that information, the assassin giving a quick shake of her head at the questions.

"I do not know ser." The elf explained, doing her best to fake a look of remorse. "I escaped the castle right as the attacks started. I hadn't strayed far from Redcliffe after I did..." Nela trailed off, appearing to give herself a moment of hesitating before letting out a deep breath. "I didn't know where to go, so I figured I would test my luck trying to get into the village - I was lucky enough to get away without getting too hurt."

Bann Teagan seemed to consider this for a moment before letting out a small sigh of defeat. "Thank you for informing me..."

"Arina- My name is Arina."

Giving a short nod he continued. "Arina. It is good to see someone made it out of the castle at least." The disappointment on the man's features weren't difficult to miss. "You are welcome to stay in the Chantry as long as you need to."

"Thank you Ser, I appreciate it." With that, the Bann gave her a nod of dismissal. Not wasting any time, the assassin and shapeshifter exitedthe office only moving to a halt after getting quite a bit of distance away from the other people in the Chantry. When they finally did stop, Solora sat down, her bright green feline eyes staring up at Nela curiously and waited for her to say something.

With a frustrated sigh, the assassin finally gave the elf-turned-cat her full attention. "Better get comfortable Solara, we're going to be here a while."

━━━━━━✦✗✦━━━━━━

The hours that followed the arrival in Redcliffe were excruciatingly long, to say the least.

The two of them were no closer to figuring out why Redcliffe was suddenly lacking in Templars and Grey Wardens - nor were they close to figuring out what to do at the moment. Solara would often slip away from her to explore the chantry, Nela could only hope it was in some attempt to find more information - but she had no way of knowing for sure. In Solora's current form, Nela had no way of having a full conversation with her, and sneaking away to talk to her could end up looking too suspicious. Nela already had many eyes on her as those within the chantry had already heard word that she was supposedly from the castle. Honestly, she didn't care about the looks she was receiving - as long their curiosity remained larger than their distaste for elves.

They had been approaching sunset when Solara had finally found her way back to Nela. The shapeshifter lying down lazily beside Nela who had been sitting against the wall near the entrance to the building. The assassin could only guess that the cat had tired from her exploration of the chantry - or simply gave up.

It was from her spot that Nela was able to get an eyeful of a small group when they entered the chantry. For once something finally felt as though it made sense, the group consisting of two Grey Wardens (one of which being a mage), a red-headed archer, and a Mabari.

Nela didn't miss Solora raising her head curiously to eye the group. The Mabari who had been trailing behind the trio had turned his head to let out a soft growl towards the supposive feline. Solora didn't react with more than a curious head tilt at the canine's reaction of her presence.

"It's about time some Grey Wardens actually showed up." The assassin grumbled, receiving an agreeing meow from Solara - though her eyes were still locked on the group.

The two continued to watch the group silently as the guard led them to the bann much like he had done for her. The group of them simply talked out in the open this time around, which was a surprise considering they were loud enough for those in the vicinity to hear them. It didn't take long for Nela to gather that they were going to stick around to help. It was information that managed to leave the elf somewhat perplexed as the Grey Wardens were _supposed_ to be there anyways.

_Why in Andraste's name weren't they?_

The conversation between the Wardens and the Bann didn't last long, some final words from the redhead in regards to the welfare of the people within the chantry, was where the conversation seemed to end. Nela watched as the archer turned away from the group and headed towards the revered mother's office, the trio left behind turning back towards the entrance of the Chantry. The assassin glanced towards Solara, noticing the shapeshifter stand to her paws next to her. Nela's eyes widened slightly as she attempted to grab onto the cat's scruff - an action that proved pointless as the feline easily stepped out of the way of her hand.

"Solora wait-!" Nela hissed out, trying hard not to let her voice become too loud and attract any attention from the group. Nela had heard about mages being able to _sense_ the magic coming from other mages. The last thing she wanted was for the warden-mage to notice something off about Solora and blow their cover, especially considering she had little time to try and figure out _what_ to ask them. It became evident that Solora wasn't thinking that far ahead, however, as she easily moved towards the group - tail raised in the air confidently as she did.

Nela scrambled to her feet - moving after Solora just as she reached the group. The shapeshifter let out a loud meow at the mage-wardens feet, weaving around the brunette's legs and forcing her to a stop. The mage-turned-cats interference caused the entire group to stop as well, the wardens face furrowing in confusion as she looked down at the animal.

Before anyone could speak up about the creature - Nela quickly approached, a worried expression clear as day on her face.

"I am _so sorry."_ Nela apologized as she bent down, pulling Solora away from the group forcefully. The sudden action earned herself a startled meow from the shapeshifter. "Solora doesn't really understand _personal space."_

As if intent on showing her displeasure at Nela's manhandling - Solora let out a quiet hiss, batting at the assassin with sheathed claws as she attempted to worm out of the elfs grip with little success.

"Oh don't worry about it!" The warden-mage, her green eyes seeming to almost light up in amusement. If she sensed anything off about the cat, she didn't voice it. "The circle has cats that are used for killing mice, I have a bit of a soft spot for them."

As if feeling the need to voice his displeasure at the arrival, the Mabari shouldered his way to the front of the group, letting out another growl directed at Solora. Though the warden-mage was quick to silence the animal with a quick gesture.

The rest of the other two accompanying the mage remained silent, though the amusement on both their faces gave Nela reason to relax a bit. She could most likely remove herself and Solora from this encounter with little issue.

_Assuming Solara cooperated. She seemed a lot less skittish as an animal._

"I apologize for intruding, I'll leave you to your business." Nela quickly apologized, trying to give the warden a respectful bow, but failing miserably as Solora took the chance to grasp onto the fabric at her shoulders and slip out of her hold. Hopping back down onto the floor gracefully behind the assassin.

"Oh it's alright," The warden at the mage's side spoke, taking a step forward to crouch down and offer his hand to the feline. The man's tone of voice shifted as he spoke to the supposive animal like it was a toddler. "She could help us fight the undead."

Despite the mage currently being in the form of a cat, Nela could almost feel the smug look the animal shot up at the assassin before trotting over to the warrior and rubbing her head onto his hand. The action earned the shapeshifter another growl from the Mabari.

Rolling her eyes, the warden-mage looked back towards the elf and offered the woman her hand. "I'm Kara by the way," Nela took the girl's hand in a quick handshake as she continued with introductions. "The Warden coddling your cat is Alistair."

The Warden in question looked up from Solora with an expression of mock offence on his face, giving the two a childish pout as he gave the feline one last scratch behind the ears before standing back up. "It's not my fault she's cute."

From Kara's other side, the light brown Mabari let out a short woof. The animal demanded attention after his lack of introduction, the action making the brunette give a short giggle in amusement. "And the _very intelligent mabari_ here is Doshiel."

An affirmative bark followed his introduction, his stub of a tail wagging fiercely behind him.

Nela took notice of the incredibly elven name the human had given her canine counterpart but gave no comment on it. Though Solora seemed to notice it as well, the shapeshifter tilting her feline head curiously at the sound of the canine's name.

Deciding that she better give some sort of introduction, Nela gave the trio a friendly smile. "Ah, my name is Arina." the assassin lied easily as she gestured towards Solora. "And her name is Sol."

"Well, Arina. It's been a pleasure," Kara started, looking down towards Solara with a smile. "And you too Sol. But we've got to go help with preparations for tonight."

Nela shifted on her feet, wondering if she should bother with the question she had sitting on the tip of her tongue. Despite not being entirely sure if the decision was wise, she knew that she had to think fast. Thus, she went through with it anyways against her better judgement.

"Of course, but before you go... Would you mind answering a question?"

Looking a little surprised, Kara gave Nela a nod in affirmation. "Of course."

"Where are the rest of the Grey Wardens?"

Both Wardens were silent for a moment, Kara's face seeming to almost pale at the mention. Alistair's expression, however, seemed to darken considerably at the question. The man answering for his friend. "Dead."

_What?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Ironically enough I started this chapter and finished most of it not long after posting the first chapter. I had wound up somewhat stuck towards the end as I wasn’t sure If I wanted to make it longer or not. I was already about eight pages in here (nine now), so I figured this would be a good place to end off.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed it, and hopefully, the next chapter shouldn’t take as long to come out! I’m also hoping to get a cover commissioned for this story soon!
> 
> ━━━━━━✦✗✦━━━━━━
> 
> Want more information on the Breach Age and the characters involved? Check out the Codex!:  
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/16rgEq-4MTMUJcoWSJ0tFdnHe1RJXxxOYAyxLHyjr5Fk/edit?usp=sharing
> 
> ━━━━━━✦✗✦━━━━━━
> 
> Word Count: 4146


End file.
